Issabella Akwaboah’s Journey: Empowering Women Through the Amazing Girls Foundation

Tasha: [00:00:00] good morning.
Could you please introduce yourself and tell us a little bit about your nonprofit origin story?

Issabella: Good evening from here. So my name Isabella and I hold a amazing girls foundation. So professionally, I’m a teacher and I’ve been teaching for the past 14 years. Foundation, we are into the production of entry part and distribution.
So our women engaged in our rural settings. So touch all. The struggle began when I was 15, the time I had my mensus. I faced significant challenges with my own menstrual health. My parents supported me. We saw so many this, it wasn’t working until 2016. I discover the reasonable ary part. Then I came back to myself and I said, Hey.
So using a reasonable sanitary part has nothing to do [00:01:00] with our poor women in their scenario settings, but rather what works for the woman or the girl or the individual. So following this personal breakthrough and the stories I get from the communities, from our women in girls motivated is. So much to champion the course that could support our women and girls who are also going through similar struggle.
So into 2019, I founded The Amazing Girls Foundation to support and provide a sustainable menstrual hygiene solution for our women to menstruate with dignity and confidence. Amazing Girls Foundation will go beyond the production of a reasonable sanitary product. Each distribution. We have inculcated women who are widows, teenage mothers, orphans.
We train these women to, so the reasonable and tree path in [00:02:00] we are equating job and also we don’t want them to be back into the society and they can earn a living. We focus more on empowerment, sustainability, and the health of our women. So talking about empowerment, that is giving these women a training.
That’s every day they have something to feed them. Then also talking about the sustainability aspect. A reasonable sanitary pipe will be used for three to four years, and it is quite affordable as compared to the disposable because you give the girl like $10, it’s going to take her for four years as compared to the disposal, but whereby she spent like $64.
Which is quite expensive and they cannot afford. I said, talking to you, Karen, we have some villages in Ghana here in our communities here that they do not sell a sanitary product there and then [00:03:00] they, in our women and girls, they are menstruating. Let’s ask ourselves how are they managing their mens? So somebody somewhere out there needs to go and support these women.
So that is what Amazing Girls Foundation we have been doing within a space of 30 years. We started with rating five girls, and now as you talk to you currently, we have been able to reach over 15,000 women, which is quite impressive, and I am so happy how far we have come. It hasn’t been easy at all. So talking about the, the sustainability aspect, that is it.
And also the health aspect of our women. We have a very proud curriculum that when we go to the communities in terms we have a jba or we go to schools to meet the girls. We talk to them about how they can manage themselves while they’re menstruating. The health [00:04:00] aspect of it, they do not need to result to taking menstrual pumps medicine every month.
We have a natural for them so it doesn’t affect their kidney. We have some doctors that they tell our women or girls that when they’re menstruating, then they have to slow for the whole of the seven days, but every woman everywhere, period. Tifa. So whether the woman flows from two days, three days, so the seven days is normal, you’ll not see.
But here is the case because of the information from other doctors. Then they have in mind that if they do not flow for seven days, then the tendency for them to have fibro is hiveer, which speaks to those women about all days that it is normal. Yeah. So that is how far we have come talking about the Amazing Girls Foundation.

Tasha: I’ve worked in the past supporting, uh, and, and doing some sexual health and education just even here in Canada, and it is so [00:05:00] shocking. Okay. The lack of, the lack of often education, what the options are, you know, and so then you add in.
Women in rural situations like this is I’m sure life changing information and opportunities for them. And I know in exactly, but in many countries, you know, there is, uh, like for girls being unable to attend school, right? Because they don’t have what they need to be able to attend school. Like, so I think this is such amazing work.
I love your mission. Okay.

Issabella: Thank you so much. Thank you.

Tasha: So tell me what’s your, what has been your favorite part about starting this nonprofit?

Issabella: Okay, so my favorite part has to do with the testimonies from the women, from various communities. Sometimes you meet someone, you don’t even know the person. Then the person will say, Hey Madame, thank you so much.
My girl is back to school and she doesn’t have to stay home while she’s [00:06:00] menstruating. I met one lady, I didn’t even know her, and she said she has nonstop being going out with the boyfriend because now she has a sanitary product. You know one thing, Asha, we have other girl that they go through this menstrual poverty and in the long run they get pregnant and they have even AB bought it.
Because of lack of assess, administration, know menal. So it’s quite sad when you hear these stories and when this just meet you and they’re able to share and they thank you, I am so happy and it’s heart fulfilling. That is my most favorite aspect of it. Yeah, the testimonies, the, the, the breakthrough we making, the impact we’re making in the lives of these women and girls from the rural cities.

Tasha: I think especially for founders to hear those testimonials, it’s what keeps the fire right in our heart to keep going.

Issabella: [00:07:00] Definitely.

Tasha: And what have been some of the, the, what are some of the biggest challenges in building a nonprofit?

Issabella: Talking about the biggest challenges, generally it is individual related. By bringing Nick down to our setting, then it has to do with sustainability That’s very, which that most nonprofits rely heavily on. Donor founded, considering these aspects of our world that we’re going through global challenges.
Global shared donor fatigue, it becomes unpredictable. Amazing girls from this, for instance, it is basically donor founding and also corporate societies coming in. So what if we wake up one day and there’s no donor coming in? Then we get stuck. It means we cannot be able to go on our impactful [00:08:00] programs.
We can’t run them consistently. Don party and this is a very big challenge and that has been my greatest PA ever since my journey. I don’t want be there party that yes, sustainability is the greatest challenge for me starting my name. Sustainability.

Tasha: Yeah. Well, and the pressure is so hive when you see.
You know what you’re, I tell you, looking to do. Right? It’s so, the press, the pressure, you as a founder, you Yeah. So big. When, you know, what does, what does fundraising look like for the Amazing Girls Foundation, you know, and, and you mentioned corporate partnerships.
I always love to hear how, you know, how grassroots nonprofits are, are making that work.

Issabella: Yeah, so talking about fundraising. Since the space of six years, we’ve not had the opportunity to do fundraising. Just as a [00:09:00] latter parts of last year, we had the opportunity through a connection from a friend that will began a farm raising from the Marico platform, and we are doing great with the farm raising aspect.
That is our first platform. We have been, yeah. But thank God, through this nonprofit type, which I don’t want to go there right now, there’s going to be a lot of fundraising. Yeah. That’s wonderful. So we are doing great with our

Tasha: first attend. And how, you know, as a founder, how are you learning all of the skills to succeed, in the nonprofit world?

Issabella: Yeah, so talking about how I’m learning all these skills, you know, the nonprofit world is being child by people. Connection, partnership. You need the community. You can’t do it alone. You need sponsorship to fuel. So I’m trying to collaborate and through collaboration and connections I’ve been able to have about assist [00:10:00] volunteers that we are helping the Amazing Girls Foundation.
In this case, I do not have to try so much because considering my job as a teacher professionally. So it makes me easy access to reach the girl from various regions in Ghana. I do not need to be everywhere because we have volunteers working for us. Yeah. So it makes my work so easier and it reduces my stress at all.

Tasha: Do you, do you still have a full-time job as well?

Issabella: Yeah. Professionally, I teach. So the nonprofit is a part-time thing. I’m going. I combine both. I go to communities. It’s crazy for me, Asha. Oh my goodness. Is it

Tasha: that means so much to be handling and balancing those two projects?

Issabella: Yeah, it takes a very dedicated person and [00:11:00] the passion, you know, the why the person moves me, it keeps me going.
Knowing that I have been there before, I know the struggles. I understand what these women and girls are going through, so it doesn’t make me tired at all because the battles I have been through. I tell you, it’s not easy talking about menstruation, so I have no choice. And she combined the two, the teaching white and nonprofit.
Oh my goodness. Well, I

Tasha: love this. Good for you. That’s Yes. That’s incredible. Incredible and pleasure. You’ve a member, you’ve been a member of the nonprofit hive for quite some time now. What have you gotten outta being a part of this community?

Issabella: Oh my God. I always work personally for Thursday to come, and I don’t want to miss any because.
I, I want to miss, I said, no. If I miss the hive chat today, gonna be my breakthrough today. I do not want to miss and Asha, [00:12:00] I can’t afford to miss my hive child every Thursday. The reason being that I have grown so much professionally. I joined this hive just last year, and the impact the hive has had on me is tremendous.
Through the Hi. I met James and I happened to be part of the 24 cohort, and they took us through connection, communication, collaboration, and this has really supported me, my classroom setting and my nonprofit work. I learned how to communicate properly through this hive. I met him and through this hive I have gone financially in terms of my nonprofit because.
Talking about meeting numerous ideas every Thursday. The ideas, they are so rich. It reduces my stress actually when I go to work and I come at night and I talk to a hive partner, my stress comes down, you know, the ladder of it. So [00:13:00] this hive has really helped me. I got the opportunity to talk to Bob and she guided me how I could organize a meeting Zoom meeting.
This true nonprofit hive. I also had the opportunity to meet Amina and she grew me like she took me through this nonprofit work. So being here is, is the greatest opportunity I don’t wanna make, and I’m going be here so there’s no nonprofit. It has really, really, really had a positive impact on my work professionally, financially, and my next work has also gone positively.
So this time has really, really helped me

Tasha: well

Issabella: a lot. And thank you, Tasha, and thanks to you more if you’re listen. Thank you. I’m so grateful. You know, so much grateful. Yeah.

Tasha: . One of my favorite things is you are one of those members who reaches out to me and shares [00:14:00] after every chat how it went, who you talked to, if you had something that you, you shared together.
And so for me as a founder, it’s lovely, right? Because it, you know, we, the, like you said, the work is really hard. We’re constantly trying to figure out. How are we going to keep moving forward? And is it working? Is it helping anybody? Right? Is it helping anybody? So, you know, I always appreciate. Getting your messages and, and it’s really wonderful to see too, these collaborations that are coming not only between, um, some of our African founders and like you noted Amina, who’s in Canada, but also the Yeah.
Connections between some of the different African founders. I always like to think of it as like we take a chance on every conversation.
So how can people follow along with your mission? What’s the best way to get in touch with you,

Isabella? [00:15:00]
Issabella: Okay, so, as I said, amazing Girls Foundation, basically she found, so I would like to reach out to.
All donors out there, volunteers, partners out there to be on board to support the Amazing Girls Foundation. With our mission of Combating Period, let us build a community together. Together we are shaping teachers and also empowering girls, especially through training, education, and dignity. And she can follow us on our social media handles Amazing Girls foundation org.
That’s our website. Wonderful.

Tasha: I think you’re doing an amazing job, and especially as a, as someone with a full-time job and that this is a project that means something deeply to you, I think it’s fantastic and supporting girls so important, and I can see this model being really, uh, it makes sense in so many, so many different places.
I think you’re [00:16:00] going to, you have something incredible that you’re starting, Isabella. Thank you. Thank you so much for doing this with me today, and I can’t wait to share this with the rest of our community.